Phased array antenna for use with low earth orbit satellite constellations

ABSTRACT

Examples disclosed herein relate to a phased array antenna system for use with a Low Earth Orbit (“LEO”) satellite constellation. The phased array antenna system has a plurality of antenna panels positioned in a dome and an antenna controller to control the plurality of antenna panels, the controller directing a first antenna panel to transmit a first signal and a second antenna panel to transmit a second signal to a LEO satellite, the first signal having a first phase and the second signal having a second phase different from the first phase.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/425,817, filed May 29, 2019 which claimspriority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/677,599, filed on May29, 2018. These applications are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Low Earth Orbit (“LEO”) satellite constellations have emerged as the newfrontier for broadband Internet services. A LEO is an orbit around Earthwith an altitude of 1,200 miles (2000 Km) or less, and an orbital periodanywhere between 84 and 127 minutes. LEO satellites move very quicklyrelative to Earth's surface to stay in orbit. With a full trip aroundEarth in about 100 minutes, a single LEO satellite is likely in view ofa user for about 10 minutes at a time. Providing broadband connectivityto users on Earth therefore requires a LEO satellite constellationcapable of handling satellite handoffs and managing propagation lossesthat occur between the satellites and ground stations on Earth.

A ground station on Earth typically includes an antenna system totransmit and receive signals to/from the LEO satellite constellation.The antenna system may operate in the millimeter wave spectrum coveringfrequencies between 30 and 300 GHz or a portion thereof. Achieving highantenna performance and gain in millimeter wave frequencies poses designchallenges for ground stations, gateways and user terminals. One designchallenge is to steer the antenna beams into different directions toreach the LEO satellite constellation while minimizing losses andantenna squint.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present application may be more fully appreciated in connection withthe following detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, which are not drawn to scale and in which likereference characters refer to like parts throughout, and wherein

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an example phased array antenna for LEOsatellite constellations;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of another example phased array antennafor LEO satellite constellations;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing additional details for the phasedarray antenna of FIG. 2 ;

FIG. 4 illustrates an MTS array of MTS cells in accordance with variousexamples;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a LEO MTS antenna in accordance withvarious examples;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for transmitting signals to a LEO satellite with aphased array antenna in accordance with various examples; and

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for receiving signals from a LEO satellite at aphased array antenna in accordance with various examples.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Systems and methods for a phased array antenna for use with LEOsatellite constellations are disclosed. The systems and methods aresuitable for many different applications and can be deployed in avariety of different environments and configurations. In variousexamples, the systems and methods are used in ground stations, gatewaysor user terminals to transmit/receive RF signals to LEO satelliteconstellations. The ground stations, gateways, or user terminals can bestationary in fixed geographical locations in the Earth or mobile suchas on top of or within airplanes, drones, yachts, vehicles, and so on.The phased array antenna is an array of antennas providing RF beams indifferent directions.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example phased arrayantenna for LEO satellite constellations. Phased array antenna 100 is asingle antenna on a LEO satellite ground terminal 108 capable ofproviding RF beams in different directions, such as RF beams in themillimeter wave spectrum. Antenna 100 may be able to transmit RF signalsto LEO satellites in a portion of the millimeter wave spectrum andreceive RF signals from the LEO satellites in the same or anotherportion of the spectrum, such as the LEO satellite moving in orbit inpositions 102-106. Antenna 100 may be in a fixed or mobile groundstation, gateway, or user terminal.

As shown, antenna 100 is at boresight at a distance d1 from the LEOsatellite in position 104 at a zenith angle of 0°. At boresight, theantenna 100 is at a minimum distance from the LEO satellite in position104 and achieves its maximum gain. At a maximum slant of for example60°, the distance from antenna 100 to the LEO is the maximum possibledistance d2. At this maximum slant, the antenna 100 loss is at amaximum, with a 3 dB cosine loss and mismatch loss due to mutualcoupling. That is, at the maximum slant, the distance is the maximumdistance and the loss is the maximum loss. At d1, the antenna 100 is atmaximum gain but at the minimum distance d1. Ideally, antenna 100 shouldbe positioned such that it achieves its maximum gain at the maximumdistance.

FIG. 2 illustrates another example phased array antenna with dynamicloss compensation. Antenna 200 is a phased array antenna with multipleantenna panels in a dome configuration. As shown, there are sevenantenna panels in the phased array: a top antenna panel 202 and six sideantenna panels 204-214 seen from the cutout perspective. In one example,the top antenna panel 202 could operate in conjunction with one of theside antenna panels 204-214. One side antenna could be oriented with itsboresight coinciding with the max slant direction, so as to have maximumgain from the antenna 200 at its maximum slant. Then, when the sideantenna panel starts steering, the orbital distance decreases balancingout the cosine loss. Individual antenna panels can have a smallerangular span, as satellite tracking is handed over to the top antennapanel 202 or the other side antenna panels 204-214, based on theirlocation. Multiple of the antenna panels can be activated simultaneouslyto maximize the overall antenna gain. Each antenna panel 202-214 may becontrolled to focus on a given angular span. Note that in thisconfiguration, antenna 200 is able to dynamically compensate forpropagation and cosine loss while having a small and compact design. Incontrast, in the single antenna configuration of FIG. 1 , each 3 dB inloss compensation results in a doubling of the antenna size.

It is appreciated that the proposed antenna configuration of antenna 200optimizes the antenna performance and the overall aperture cost fortracking and communicating with LEO satellites, such as the LEOsatellite moving in orbit from position 216 to position 218.Differentiating with classical antenna design using multiple panels toreduce the large beam steering loss due to low elevation angles fromground antennas to LEOs, the proposed architecture for antenna 200 andits associated beamforming procedure make full use of the effectiveapertures. At least two of the antenna panels 202-214 receive andtransmit LEO signals simultaneously. The antenna configuration ofantenna 200 enables signals received from LEO satellites to bephase-aligned and power-combined, or signals transmitted to the LEOsatellites to be power-divided and phase-aligned as desired.

For example, the signal components received by each element of one panelare phase-aligned and then power-combined, with both the top-panel 204and the side-panels 206 and 214. In receive, the two combined signalsare phase-aligned and then power-combined again, to enhance thesignal-to-noise ratio, improving the reception performance. In transmit,the transmit signals are then phase-shifted and power-divided and thenfed to the two side panels 206 and 214. Each of these signals ispower-split and phase-shifted to the elements of the two panels 206 and214, respectively, and then sent from the two panels, improving theirtransmitting performance. Sometimes and more frequently, similaroperations are performed with three panels, two side-panels and onetop-panel. Beamforming is extended to multiple panels for performanceimprovement.

In tracking mode, the proposed multiple antenna configuration of antenna200 also leverages all the advantages brought by its extended antennaaperture due to multiple panels involved in the operation. For example,the accuracy of angle-of-arrival (“AoA”) estimations using the proposedphased array antenna 200 with its multiple antenna panels 202-214, inboth orbit plane and in the perpendicular direction of the orbit plane,can be improved due to its beamsteering and phase-shifting capabilities.When the 3D location of the LEOs can be estimated with improvedaccuracy, its range estimation can be also improved. And as the in-orbitLEO ground speed can also be estimated or refined, based on a predictionof the LEO's position, a more accurate LEO's orbit position calculationcan improve the link performance during tracking.

In addition, using multiple antenna panels in ground stations, insteadof only one panel, in LEO communication systems, the overall amount ofthe hardware will be less than when only a single panel is used toachieve the same overall antenna performance. This is appreciated byobserving that in the case of a single panel, the aperture must bedimensioned according to the worst case, which corresponds to the lowestelevation angle. In contrast, in the proposed configuration of antenna200 using multiple antenna panels with say 2-3 panels working together,the beam steering loss due to low elevation angles is compensated by thedifferent panel orientation angles. The one-panel configuration wouldhave an unnecessary performance margin in most of the time of itsoperation and in particular, when LEOs are in the area near to groundstation's zenith. This loss can be avoided due to the proposed antennasystem configurations and the associated signal processing procedures.The proposed antenna configuration 200, as well as the associated signalprocessing procedures, jointly optimize the benefits of using a multiplepanel antenna configuration in communication, range and directionestimation.

Attention is now directed to FIG. 3 , which illustrates a schematicdiagram with additional details for the phased array antenna of FIG. 2 .Phased array antenna 300 is controlled by a LEO antenna controller 302and has 7 LEO antenna panels. In one example, each LEO antenna panel isa Meta-Structure (“MTS”) antenna such as LEO antenna 304. Ameta-structure, as generally defined herein, is an engineered, non- orsemi-periodic structure that is spatially distributed to meet a specificphase and frequency distribution. In various examples, the LEO antenna304 is an array of MTS cells, wherein each cell may be individually anddynamically controlled. The MTS array may be configured into subarraysthat have specific characteristics, such as by having each subarrayconfigured to reflect signals at a specific angle.

In operation, the antenna controller 302 is responsible for directingthe LEO antenna 304 to generate RF beams with determined parameters suchas beam width, transmit angle, and so on. The antenna controller 302 mayalso determine a voltage matrix to apply to phase shifters coupled tothe LEO antenna 304 to achieve a desired phase shift profile for theantenna 304. The phase shifters may include a varactor or a phase shiftnetwork in an RFIC 314 to provide any desired phase shift up to 360°.The phase shift network may include multiple phase shifters, each withone or more varactors, to achieve the desired phase shift. In someexamples, the LEO antenna 304 is adapted to transmit a directional beamthrough active control of the phase shifters in RFIC 314 coupled to MTScells that make up the LEO antenna 304.

An RF signal controller 306 generates a signal for transmission andprovides it to the LEO antenna 304. The signal propagates through animpedance-matched feed network 308 to a transmission array 310 and anMTS array 312 for transmission through the air. The impedance-matchedfeed network 308 includes impedance matching mechanisms for respectivelymatching input signal parameters with the MTS cells in the MTS array312. The impedance matching mechanisms work in coordination with theRFIC 314 to provide phase shifting of the radiating signal(s) from theMTS array 312. As illustrated, RFIC 314 is integrated to feed network308 for providing phase shift control to each subarray or cell in MTSarray 312. In other examples, RFIC 314 may be integrated with thetransmission array 310 such that a phase shifter is coupled to atransmission line leading to a subarray of MTS cells in the MTS array312. In yet other examples, the RFIC 314 may be integrated with the MTSarray 312, with each phase shifter in RFIC 314 providing phase shiftcontrol to an MTS cell or subarray of cells in MTS array 312.

Note that with the illustrated dome configuration, two-dimensional phaseshifting can be realized in the MTS array 312 so that each MTS cell orsubarray of MTS cells can have its phase control signals combined. Invarious examples, a switch network can be used for variable antennasystem reconfigurations. For example, when LEOs are on the zenith area,only the top-panel is used and side-panels are off. In other examples,when LEOs are at the range of 50° to 75° elevation and +30° and −30°azimuth range relative to altitude direction for the side-panels 206 and208, one or two side-panels and the top-panel are used.

It is appreciated that handovers in elevation angle can be performedaccording the order “side-panel(s) only” to “top-panel+side-panel(s)”and then from “top-panel+side-panel(s)” to “top-panel only”. Thehandover edges are 50° for handover from “side-panel(s) only” to“top-panel+side-panel(s)”, and the 75° for handover from“top-panel+side-panel(s)” to “top-panel only”. This design limits beamsteering loss to cos(30°) or 0.625 dB at handover edge. With thehandover, using two panels, this loss can be compensated using anadditional panel's power combining gain. After the handover from 2-3panels to one-panel, the range from LEO to ground station is shortenedand beam steering loss compensation is no longer necessary until thenext handover edge is reached.

FIG. 4 illustrates an MTS array of MTS cells in accordance with variousexamples. MTS array 400 contains multiple MTS cells positioned in one ormore layers of a substrate and coupled to other circuits, modules andlayers, as desired and depending on the application. In variousexamples, the MTS cells are metamaterial (“MTM”) cells. MTM cell 402 isillustrated having a conductive outer portion or loop 404 surrounding aconductive area 406 with a space in between. Each MTM cell 402 may beconfigured on a dielectric layer, with the conductive areas and loopsprovided around and between different MTM cells.

In the illustrated example, a voltage controlled variable reactancedevice 408, e.g., a varactor, provides a controlled reactance betweenthe conductive area 406 and the conductive loop 404. The controlledreactance is controlled by a voltage applied from an antenna controllerimplemented as in FIG. 3 , such as an applied reverse bias voltage inthe case of a varactor. The change in reactance changes the behavior ofthe MTM cell 402, enabling the MTM array 400 to provide focused, highgain beams directed to a specific location. In other examples, phaseshifts are provided to each MTM cell or subarrays of MTM cells in array400 by an RFIC coupled to the MTM array 400, such as the RFIC 314 ofFIG. 3 having a phase shift network. In those examples, each MTM cell isconfigured without a varactor between its conductive area and conductiveloop as the phase shift is provided from the RFIC instead of thevaractor. It is appreciated that other configurations may includeadditional circuits, modules and layers integrated with the MTM array400.

As generally described herein, an MTM cell such as cell 402 is anartificially structured element used to control and manipulate physicalphenomena, such as the electromagnetic (“EM”) properties of a signalincluding its amplitude, phase, and wavelength. Metamaterial structuresbehave as derived from inherent properties of their constituentmaterials, as well as from the geometrical arrangement of thesematerials with size and spacing that are much smaller relative to thescale of spatial variation of typical applications. A metamaterial isnot a tangible new material, but rather is a geometric design of knownmaterials, such as conductors, that behave in a specific way. An MTMcell may be composed of multiple microstrips, gaps, patches, vias, andso forth having a behavior that is the equivalent to a reactanceelement, such as a combination of series capacitors and shunt inductors.Various configurations, shapes, designs and dimensions are used toimplement specific designs and meet specific constraints. In someexamples, the number of dimensional freedom determines thecharacteristics, wherein a device having a number of edges anddiscontinuities may model a specific-type of electrical circuit andbehave in a similar manner. In this way, an MTM cell radiates accordingto its configuration. Changes to the reactance parameters of the MTMcell result in changes to its radiation pattern. Where the radiationpattern is changed to achieve a phase change or phase shift, theresultant structure is a powerful antenna or radar, as small changes tothe MTM cell can result in large changes to the beamform.

The MTM cells include a variety of conductive structures and patterns,such that a received transmission signal is radiated therefrom. Invarious examples, each MTM cell has some unique properties. Theseproperties may include a negative permittivity and permeabilityresulting in a negative refractive index; these structures are commonlyreferred to as left-handed materials (“LHM”). The use of LHM enablesbehavior not achieved in classical structures and materials, includinginteresting effects that may be observed in the propagation ofelectromagnetic waves, or transmission signals. Metamaterials can beused for several interesting devices in microwave and terahertzengineering such as antennas, sensors, matching networks, andreflectors, such as in telecommunications, automotive and vehicular,robotic, biomedical, satellite and other applications. For antennas,metamaterials may be built at scales much smaller than the wavelengthsof transmission signals radiated by the metamaterial. Metamaterialproperties come from the engineered and designed structures rather thanfrom the base material forming the structures. Precise shape,dimensions, geometry, size, orientation, arrangement and so forth resultin the smart properties capable of manipulating EM waves by blocking,absorbing, enhancing, or bending waves.

Attention is now directed to FIG. 5 , which shows a schematic diagram ofa LEO MTS antenna in accordance with various examples. LEO MTS antenna500 has an impedance-matched feed network 502 that may be a powerdivider circuit. The feed network 502 feeds a layer of transmissionlines 504, which are directed along the x-direction or length of thelayer 504. In this way, a transmission signal is provided at the inputand fed to feed network 504 having multiple stages or levels. Theconfiguration illustrated may incorporate a variety of other circuits,structures or components to enable smooth operation, such as to provideimpedance matching of the various levels and distribution points,including coupling to the layer 554 and individual transmission linesformed therein.

The transmission layer 504 is positioned proximate MTS array 506 suchthat signals propagate through layer 504 and are received at MTS layer506 for radiation in the z-direction. The feed network 502 may take anyof a variety of forms, and is illustrated here as a multi-layer, equallydivided structure that feeds a plurality of transmission lines of layer504. Each of the divided paths of feed network 502 feeds a transmissionline of layer 504. The transmission lines are arranged such that asignal propagates through from the feed network 502 to an opposite endof the layer 504. Each transmission line may have a plurality ofdiscontinuities positioned along its length. These discontinuities maybe slots positioned within the transmission line that enable thepropagating signal to travel through the slot forming electromagneticradiation transmissions that feed layer 504 into the air or free space.The beam form and direction of the radiated signal from layer 506 isformed by an MTS array of unit cells which are controlled so as tochange the resultant beamform. The layer 506 may also output multiplebeamforms by allocating subarrays or by controlling the parameters ofthe unit cells. An RFIC as implemented in FIG. 3 provides phase shiftsto individual MTS cells or subarrays of MTS layer 506.

Attention is now directed to FIG. 6 , which is a flowchart fortransmitting signals to a LEO satellite with a phased array antenna inaccordance with various examples. First, in a phased array antennahaving n subarrays of MTM cells, the feed network generates n transmitsignal components, each transmit signal component generated for eachsubarray (600). Next, phase control signals are pre-conditioned andapplied to all the cells within each subarray (602). The phase controlsignals provide voltages to the MTM cells for generating phase shiftsthat result in beamforming signals at the direction of the phase shift.Each transmit signal component is distributed to the MTM cells in eachsubarray with their phases aligned (604). The transmit signal componentsare then radiated as sub-beams in the subarray cells to form a singlebeam at a given phase (606).

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for receiving signals from a LEO satellite at aphased array antenna in accordance with various examples. First, signalfrom a LEO satellite is received at a phased array antenna having nsubarrays of MTM cells (700). Next, phase control signals arepre-conditioned and applied to all the cells within each subarray (702).The phase control signals provide voltages to the MTM cells forgenerating phase shifts that result in beamforming signals at thedirection of the phase shift. At each subarray, the signals received attheir individual MTM cells are phase-aligned and power-combined (704).From each subarray, n beamformed signals are phase-aligned further andthen combined coherently, ready for subsequent processing at thesatellite ground terminal. As described above, the beamforming and phasecontrol capabilities of the phased array antenna configuration disclosedherein enhance the signal-to-noise ratio and improves the overalltransmit and receive performance of a LEO satellite ground terminal.

It is appreciated that the previous description of the disclosedexamples is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make oruse the present disclosure. Various modifications to these examples willbe readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the genericprinciples defined herein may be applied to other examples withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the presentdisclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples shown hereinbut is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principlesand novel features disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A phased array antenna system, comprising: aplurality of antenna panels each comprising: an array of meta-structurecells; a feed network; and an RFIC (radio frequency integrated circuit)coupled to the feed network and adapted to generate a plurality of phaseshifts for a plurality of signals, wherein a meta-structure cell fromthe array of meta-structure cells radiates signals with each phaseshift; and an antenna controller configured to control the plurality ofantenna panels by directing a first antenna panel to transmit a firstsignal to a Low Earth Orbit (“LEO”) satellite and a second antenna panelto transmit a second signal to the LEO satellite.
 2. The phased arrayantenna system of claim 1, wherein the first signal has a first phaseand the second signal has a second phase different from the first phase.3. The phased array antenna system of claim 1, wherein the array ofmeta-structure cells comprises a plurality of metamaterial cells.
 4. Thephased array antenna system of claim 3, wherein at least onemetamaterial cell in the plurality of metamaterial cells comprises avaractor.
 5. The phased array antenna system of claim 4, wherein theantenna controller controls a voltage applied to the varactor togenerate a phase shift.
 6. A satellite ground terminal for use with asatellite, comprising: a plurality of metamaterial antenna panels eachcomprising an array of metamaterial cells, a feed network and an RFIC(radio-frequency integrated circuit) coupled to the feed network,wherein the RFIC generates a plurality of phase shifts for a pluralityof signals, each signal radiated from a subarray with each phase shift;and an antenna controller that controls the plurality of metamaterialantenna panels to transmit and receive a plurality of beamformingsignals at a plurality of phases to and from the satellite, wherein theplurality of beamforming signals received at the plurality of phases arecombined in phase.
 7. The satellite ground terminal of claim 6, whereinthe array of metamaterial cells is configured into a plurality ofsubarrays.
 8. The satellite ground terminal of claim 6, wherein at leastone metamaterial cell in the array of metamaterial cells comprises avaractor and wherein the antenna controller controls a voltage appliedto the varactor to generate a phase shift.
 9. A phased array antennasystem for use with a Low Earth Orbit (“LEO”) satellite constellation,comprising: a plurality of antenna panels, wherein each of the pluralityof antenna panels comprises; an array of meta-structure cells; a feednetwork; and an RFIC (radio frequency integrated circuit) coupled to thefeed network, wherein the RFIC generates a plurality of phase shifts fora plurality of signals, each signal radiated from a subarray with eachphase shift; and an antenna controller that controls the plurality ofantenna panels, the antenna controller configured to direct a firstantenna panel to receive a first signal from a LEO satellite of the LEOconstellation and a second antenna panel to receive a second signal fromthe LEO satellite of the LEO constellation.
 10. The phased array antennasystem of claim 9, wherein the first signal and the second signal arealigned in phase.
 11. The phased array antenna system of claim 9,wherein the first signal and the second signal are combined in the feednetwork that improves a signal-to-noise ratio in the phased arrayantenna system.
 12. The phased array antenna system of claim 9, whereinthe array of meta-structure cells is configured into a plurality ofsubarrays.